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<h1>About prompts</h1>
<p>A prompt is a question the system presents to a user when a report is 
 executed. How the user answers the question determines what data is displayed 
 on the report when it is returned from your data source. &nbsp;For 
 an introduction to prompts, how prompts save the report designer time, 
 and how prompts work with MicroStrategy security filters, see the <span 
 style="font-style: italic;"><I>MicroStrategy Basic Reporting Guide</I></span>.</p>
<p>A report designer can include one or more prompts in any report. Prompts 
 are an effective tool to:</p>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p>Allow each user who executes the report to request individualized 
 sets of data from your data source when he answers the prompts and runs 
 the report. Effectively, each user creates a filter for the report.</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>Allow the report designer to create a smaller number 
 of reports overall, using more inclusive objects, rather than having to 
 create numerous, more specific reports that are individualized to each 
 analyst. </p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>Allow the report designer to ensure that the objects 
 on a report are the latest available objects in the project. This is possible 
 using a search object in a prompt. When a user launches a prompt by running 
 a report, the search object retrieves the latest objects that fit the 
 search criteria the report designer defined. Thus, no matter when the 
 prompt was created, each time a user executes the report, the user chooses 
 prompt answers from a list of the most up-to-date objects available in 
 the project, including objects that may not have existed when the prompt 
 was created.</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>Allow users to keep the objects on their saved reports 
 up-to-date. Users can save a prompted report so that the objects within 
 the prompt remain connected to the original objects within the project 
 that they were originally based on when the prompt was created. If objects 
 are modified or deleted in the project, the report can reflect those changes 
 the next time the prompted report is run.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Components of a prompt</h2>
<p>The pieces that make up a prompt control how a prompt appears and how 
 it functions. These components include the following:</p>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Answer requirement</B></span>: 
 This component lets you determine whether users are required to answer 
 the prompt or an answer is optional. If an answer is required, a report 
 cannot be executed until an answer is provided.</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Default prompt answers</B></span>: 
 This component lets you include a pre-selected answer for the prompt, 
 which the user can then accept, replace with a different answer, or accept 
 and add more answers.</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Title and description</B></span>: 
 This component lets you provide a useful name and description for the 
 prompt, which can significantly impact whether a user finds prompts to 
 be simple or complex .</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><B>Style</B></span>: This 
 component determines the appearance of the prompt and the layout of how 
 users select answers for the prompt.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Consider your users' needs and the purpose of the report and the objects 
 on it when you decide on these options. If you plan to apply a schedule 
 to a prompted report, the decisions you make about answer requirements 
 and default answers will affect how the report is filtered when it is 
 automatically executed on schedule. For a table showing how various combinations 
 of these options affect how a scheduled report is filtered when executed, 
 see the <span style="font-style: italic;"><I>MicroStrategy Advanced Reporting 
 Guide</I></span>.</p>
<p>For details and examples of each of these components and how they work 
 together, see the <span style="font-style: italic;"><I>MicroStrategy Basic 
 Reporting Guide</I></span>. For steps to create a prompt, see the appropriate 
 link under Related Topics listed at the end of this topic.</p>
<h2>Stand-alone prompt vs. prompt as part of report or filter</h2>
<p>A stand-alone prompt is a prompt that is created as an independent MicroStrategy 
 object. A stand-alone prompt can then be used on many different reports, 
 as well as on filters, metrics, and other objects, and can be used by 
 other report designers. A stand-alone prompt gives report designers flexibility.</p>
<p>However, in MicroStrategy, prompts can also be created as an intrinsic 
 part of a given report, at the same time the report itself is being created. 
 Prompts created as part of a report are saved with the report's definition. 
 Therefore, a prompt created as part of a report cannot be used on any 
 other report.</p>
<p>Prompts can also be created as an intrinsic part of a filter, at the 
 same time the filter itself is being created. Prompts created as part 
 of a filter are saved with the filter's definition. Therefore, a prompt 
 created as part of a filter cannot be used on any other filter.</p>
<p>No matter how a prompt is created, whether as stand-alone or as part 
 of another object, each approach allows you to create most prompt types 
 described in this online help. Both stand-alone prompts and prompts created 
 as part of another object accomplish the same results: the user is presented 
 with one or more questions to answer, and the answers determine the data 
 used when calculating the results displayed on a report.</p>
<h2>Comparing a prompt and a filter</h2>
<p>A prompt is similar to a 
<a HREF="WhatAreFilters.htm">filter</a> because 
 a prompt determines the specific data to be displayed on a report. The 
 difference is that you create a filter for a report to provide a single, 
 specific definition for the report. A filtered report then displays the 
 same set of data to every user who executes that report. In contrast, 
 a prompt dynamically modifies the contents of a report based on the user's 
 answers when the user executes the report. With prompts, users can determine 
 the objects (attributes, attribute elements, metrics, and so on) that 
 they want to be part of, or excluded from, the report query that is sent 
 to the data source. Therefore, a prompt can be seen as a way for each 
 user to create his filter for a given report. For example:</p>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p>Users can choose from several existing filters to determine 
 exactly which filter screens the data on the report that they are about 
 to execute. To achieve this, create an object prompt that contains existing 
 filters and place that object prompt on a report. Then the user can choose 
 which filter to apply to the report. For more details on object prompts, 
 see 
<a HREF="Object_prompts.htm">Filtering data based on metrics, attributes, 
 or other objects: Object prompt</a>.</p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>Prompts allow a report to have a dynamic report definition, 
 which users can change each time that they submit the query by choosing 
 different answers when prompted. If you create an attribute prompt containing 
 the Year attribute, users are prompted to select the year for which they 
 want the report results. The report can be run the first time by selecting 
 2005 and then a second time by selecting 2006.</p></li>
</ul>
<h3>Related topics</h3>
<ul type="disc" class="whs1">
	
<li class=p><p>
<a HREF="Prompt_types.htm">Types of prompts</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Hierarchy_qualification_prompt.htm">Filtering 
 data based on a related set of attributes: Hierarchy prompt</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Attribute_element_list_prompts.htm">Filtering 
 data based on an attribute form: Attribute element list prompts</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Attribute_qualification_prompts.htm">Filtering 
 data based on an attribute: Attribute qualification prompts</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Metric_qualification_prompts.htm">Filtering 
 data based on a metric: Metric qualification prompts</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Object_prompts.htm">Filtering data based on 
 metrics, attributes, or other objects: Object prompts</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Value_prompts.htm">Filtering data based on 
 a single value or string: Value prompts</a></p></li>
	
<li class=p><p>
<a href="Add_prompts_to_reports.htm">Adding a prompt 
 to a report</a></p></li>
</ul>
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